How to Release Stress by Nourishing Your Soul

By Tania Ho

May 17, 2017

Recently, I notice more and more guests who are here at Museflower on a solo retreat want to learn more about how to:

- Release any stress, anxiety, and worries

- Calm the chatter in the mind

- Sleep better

- Feel more grounded

- Have more energy to do things we love

It's definitely a good sign if you want to learn more about any of the above too!

My answer? In order to release any stress, we need to start reconnecting to our feminine side, where we nourish our souls, learn to receive support, and to trust. It is when we learn to sit still, listen, observe, embrace and acknowledge without judgment, all the different emotions and feelings, whether they are positive or negative.

It is also about having faith in a presence bigger than us, the invisible force in Mother Nature and the Universe. You can call this presence "Divine", "God", "Universe", "the Great Spirit", "Nature", or however you want to name It.

Know that we are not here to do everything alone. We are always supported by the Universe. Trust that everything happens for a reason.

I know sometimes that's not how we feel. Me too. That we have to do everything, to make anything happen. That's why we push and push, until we get the results we want.

During this process, we worry, we get stressed out about the deadlines, we want everything to be perfect and push our body to our limits. In order to achieve something so perfect, we stop ourselves from eating well, sleeping, exercising, and having fun.

Inevitably, we stop listening to our soul's voice. We stop living our authentic self and only live according to what we think we should based on other people and society's expectations.

So, we start to drink and to smoke to "de-stress". We watch TV and Youtube videos after work to "relax". We scroll down our Facebook and Instagram feeds mindlessly.

We entertain ourselves, yes. Relaxing? Perhaps, in some degree. But we are numbing our minds, feelings and emotions in the process. We distract ourselves with things don't matter, and stop listening to our intuition.

So how do we nourish our souls?

For me, the easiest way is to ask yourself this question:

What are the 10 things that you enjoy doing, that are fun, and that make you feel more connected to your deeper sense of self?

List those 10 soul-nourishing activities out. They don't have to be something elaborate. They can be simple pleasures. For me, one of my soul-nourishing activities is to be with my two dogs. Just by looking at them, how they sleep and play, is so uplifting for me. Another one is cooking. I may not get to do it on a daily basis, but I do enjoy cooking and making food for my family and myself.

What are your top 10 soul-nourishing activities that you are already doing? Commit to yourself doing or experiencing at least one of these soul-nourishing activities on a daily basis. If you can come up with more than 10, great for you! If not, start with 1.

Remember these should be activities that you can do already or have done before. Watching TV or movie does not really count, but perhaps you enjoy watching something hilarious on TV that makes you laugh. So, laughing is really what your soul-nourishing activity is.

It is important to distinguish pure entertainment vs. soul connection. An analogy is like knowing the difference between fake honey and real honey. Think of the soul-nourishing activities as real honey - they nourish you with natural nutrients and they taste delicious!

Why the real honey? Because you deserve it. Because it is an act of self-love. Because life is meant to be fun!

Side story about honey: The analogy of fake and real honey is a real story that just happened to me this morning. A friend gave me a bottle of honey to try, and the first time when I tasted it, I thought it tasted weird like cat pee but I didn't say anything. I thought it was just a one-time thing. Then, today I drank it again, it still tasted like cat pee. I asked two other friends to try it, and they said the same thing. I then opened another bottle of honey that someone else gave me, and yes - it was delicious and tasted how real honey should taste like. So then, when I was journaling this morning, I realized the story of fake honey and real honey can be used as a good analogy for distinguishing between what pure entertainment is (fake honey) and what soul-nourishing activity feels like (real honey). Hope you enjoy this analogy too. Thank you Universe!

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What are your 10 soul-nourishing activities that uplift you?

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About Tania Ho

Founder and owner of Museflower Retreat & Spa, Tania is a Hong Kong native who now makes her home at the retreat in Chiang Rai. Trained in a number of holistic therapies including Flower Essence consultation and Hado Counseling, Tania believes that healing can take place when we start making changes from within, and it starts from listening to the voice of our soul within.

Museflower Retreat & Spa provides a quiet space for city people who feel stressed out, disconnected and tired an opportunity to get away, slow down and learn to reconnect to themselves again. To receive a free 500THB credit voucher to use towards your next retreat or spa booking at Museflower, subscribe to our newsletter and claim your free gift here.